Quote:
Originally Posted by Sil_liS
But in the self publishing model the author can be the editor, copyeditor, proofreader and publicist. And the author will not get an income for each of these jobs.
One of the disagreements between buyers and author/publisher/retailer crowd comes from the fact that most of us expect the author to do the copyediting and proofreading. I don't want to know that an author that I might enjoy can't be bothered to use spell-check, can't get his facts straight and doesn't read what he wrote a couple of times before submitting a book for publishing.
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Yes, I do get an income from Editing, copyediting and proofreading if I do it. It is PART of the job of writing. It's not optional. When I sell my book, part of the income I derive is DUE to editing/copyediting and so on. That doesn't mean I always do it well or perfectly--which is why I hire out some of these tasks when possible. BUT my plotting, another part of writing, isn't always spot-on either. Which is why I have beta readers and have actually bid on opportunities to have other "experts" do a read-through on the novel.
There are levels, whether an author is traditional or not. I edit and proof and plot at a particular level. In MOST cases, an outside editor is going to up the quality by a notch or two. Same thing with plot editors. It's all a matter of whether I can afford to do these things and at what level of expertise. The traditional publishing route is no different. Some editors DO NOT READ books they publish. Yes, this is true. I've talked to authors who have said, 'My editor told me that once the series was accepted, they wouldn't be reading the novels--it would go straight to copy-editing. I was lucky she read book 1."
This is not a one-off either. I've also known an author or two with small publishers who were told that their book was not going to be copyedited due to costs (and they were told their manuscript was 'generally' clean so it was good enough.)
There are short cuts all over. But the point is, as the writer, I do get paid--for every single step I take. I may not get paid MUCH, but I include my time spent editing as every bit as valuable and necessary as the original draft (actually more so). It may not be perfect, but the idea is to put out a good enough product that makes enough to afford things like outside cover work, editing and so on--to improve things.
But all writers value re-writing and editing--and it is part of the job whether I make my income from traditional publishing or self.